fitear1590

This has to be one of the most intriguing releases I've checked from this thread.
Time to look up the full discography.

Day 16 - 撃鉄 - NO UNDERGROUND (Gekitetsu - NO UNDERGROUND)

Release Date: 2014-04-23
Label: SPACE SHOWER MUSIC
Genre: Post-Punk
Impressions by @Original Saku

Impressions by @CAT5

Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | Amazon | YesAsia

My year-end list is finally done! This is a collection of my favorite releases of 2014, including a handful of singles. It is always at this point in the year I learn about new/overlooked/dark horse releases from other member's lists, so I look forward to reading those! But as it is, this is very much a list that is reflective of my own tastes. For organizational purposes (/my inability to truly rank releases), within each list, everything is listed in alphabetical order. Hopefully, you'll find a few things that strike your fancy! I did spend a lot of time working on this, so any feedback/comments you have would be very much appreciated! So, without further ado, let's get to it!

Japanese Releases


Top 10

伊集院幸希 (ijuuin yuki) - 月曜日と金曜日 ～Sugar Hi Junnie～
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/ijuuinyuki_zps2b889a04.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/ijuuinyuki-sugarhijunnie225x225_zps32a66bfc.jpg" />



Kamijo - Symphony of the Vampire & Heart
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/KAMIJO_zps3fc41eb4.png" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/kamijo-symphonyofthevampire225x222_zps6cecc52e.jpg" />http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/kamijo-heart225x222_zps02d62f24.jpg" />



Lamp - ゆめ
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/lamp_zps791786b4.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/lampyume225x225_zpsaf5782b6.jpg" />



Moran - dark & 堕落へと続く偏愛の感触
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/moran_zpscd82b3d9.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/moran-dark220x225_zps4e2b1279.jpg" />http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/moran-5815843D307830687D9A304F504F611B306E611F89E6_zps6e9ee316.jpg" />



ねごと (NEGOTO) - アンモナイト! / 黄昏のラプソディ
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/negoto1_zps971525cc.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/negotoammonite225x223_zps84ca15ca.jpg" />



THE NOVEMBERS - Rhapsody in beauty
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/thenovembers_zps9bd3cfd1.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/thenovembersrhapsodyinbeauty225x222_zps6a5f48a1.jpg" />



シナリオアート (Scenarioart) - night walking & Tokyomelancholy
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/scenarioart_zpse079ba26.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/scenarioart-nightwalking225x225_zpsd4d4080b.jpg" />http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/scenarioart-tokyomelancholy_zpsdeddba9d.jpg" />



Teen Runnings - NOW
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/teenrunnings_zpscf017c4f.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/teenrunningsnow225x225_zps5cb88aba.jpg" />



ユナイト (UNiTE.) - レヴ / ice
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/uniteice_zps7549ffeb.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/UNiTErev225x225_zpse941260d.jpg" />



Ventla - A
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/ventla-A_zpsc820ea54.png" />





Honorable Mentions


八十八ヶ所巡礼 (88kasyo junrei) - 攻撃的国民的音楽
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/88kasyojunrei_zps72a3cc48.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/88kasyojunrei-ongaku225x224_zps735a7b38.jpg" />



BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/babymetal_zps864ed826.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/babymetal-babymetal225x225_zpsa68f5894.jpg" />



HOLLOWGRAM - Qualia
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/HOLLOWGRAM_zps7d338739.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/hollowgram-qualia225x221_zps2ae477ce.jpg" />



吉澤嘉代子 (Kayoko Yoshizawa) - 変身少女
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/kayokoyoshizawa_zps6053728d.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/kayokoyoshizawa-henshinshoujo225x222_zps22002931.jpg" />



ミソッカス (misokkasu) - 統一された混沌(カオス)
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/misokkasu_zps1b97bfb0.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/misokkasu-chaos225x225_zpsf5e43b50.jpg" />



My Fairytale - Tokyo under note
 




ねごと (NEGOTO) - "Z"OOM
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/negoto2_zpsd8076458.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/negotozoom225x225_zps4121303a.jpg" />



Nohtenkigengo - Never
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/nohtenkigengo_zps1dd53f5f.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/nohtenkigengo-never_zps9dc61fa9.jpg" />



Scarlet Valse - -GENESIS-
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/scarletvalse_zps85e9e052.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/scarletvalse-GENESIS225x225_zps36d80f12.jpg" />



ユナイト (UNiTE.) - Ai
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/unite2_zps986f9a8a.jpg" />  http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/Best%20of%20lists/uniteai225x225_zps1d8ac9c4.jpg" />

*removes CORE from HD and just downloads Lilia single*

RE: NEGOTO
-Deith is my fellow-NEGOTO man, haha.
-I'm glad you see their talent even if you don't actively listen to them, Cat. Maybe one of these days, they'll be able to convert you!
-And I agree with saishuu, their single after the mini-album is SO good.
 
As for chouchou merged syrups., I'm surprised to see so many of you enjoyed it that much. While it's definitely better than the first mini-album overall, I can't seem to get into it. The vocalist definitely improved, but I still find her voice to be barely tolerable on this release. Musically, I don't find it that memorable. I still remember the awesome opening riffs from "ヒエログリフと遊ぶ" on their first mini over anything on here. I hope it'll grow on me though! I generally enjoy Zankyo stuff.

For me, negoto is one of those bands that are always pleasant to listen to, but rarely have any songs that stick with me in the long run. Their vocalist is absolutely adorable, though, and these girls are really tight musicians.
I love TK - amazing musician (one of my fav. guitarists) and composer, but "fantastic magic" just didn't deliver like I expected. I feel like the album was aimed more at the alternative jpop audience than longtime LTS fans, which is perfectly understandable, but not quite for me. As long as LTS continues to deliver, then I'm not too overly concerned about the where TK takes his solo project. P.S. - the title track was one of my favs from the album.

I wasn't really a fan of "Z"OOM personally. But their single following it was great!

The Worst
ミサルカ (Misaruka) - Rosary
This song was made for this thread. As if watching what's-his-face's over-acting (yes, even for VK) weren't enough, the vocals on this new track are even worse: so confusingly terrible. Here's a summary of some of the most egregious parts:
-Pathetic growl that goes on for waaaaaay too long
-"Having a seizure" vocals at :54
-Forced deep vocals at 1:02
-Awful VK vibrato at 1:50
-The sneeze (??) at 3:10

The fact that the production simply plops the vocals on top of everything just makes it worse.

I still love most of the ones in the 'bad' sections but supporting and upping both Jun Togawa and Shinsei Kamattechan as well for such good WTF-inducing vocals! Love them so much, I was already prepared to bring them up until I read through the thread ehe.
 
As for contributing, I do have a 'bad' one. As soon as I saw the thread, I thought, 'I actually have one I can safely say even I can only listen to for a bit and then must take one hell of a long ass break from it.' xD
Tokami's Agato, newest vocalist. He sounds just.. so bad... And not only to me either, he seems quite popular to the fans for being pretty bad as a singer haha. And yet, we still love it. xD

The Worst
ミサルカ (Misaruka) - Rosary
This song was made for this thread. As if watching what's-his-face's over-acting (yes, even for VK) weren't enough, the vocals on this new track are even worse: so confusingly terrible. Here's a summary of some of the most egregious parts:
-Pathetic growl that goes on for waaaaaay too long
-"Having a seizure" vocals at :54
-Forced deep vocals at 1:02
-Awful VK vibrato at 1:50
-The sneeze (??) at 3:10

The fact that the production simply plops the vocals on top of everything just makes it worse.

WTF-inducing Japanese vocals

At least from the perspective of an English speaker, I think Japanese vocalists can sometimes produce the strangest sounds from their mouth holes.  Let's discuss those moments here.

Now, "WTF-inducing" doesn't necessarily mean bad; in fact, I have more positive than negative examples!
Here are a few examples of Japanese vocals that completely took me off guard the first time I heard them.
 
The Good
愛狂います。 (Aicle) in "豚の王様「ニトログリセリン」" (Vocalist: Emiru)
This song consists of about 3 lines of actual lyrics.  The rest of the "vocals" come in the form of grunts, screeches, growls, and yes, pig oinks.  Wonky as shit, but I love this track.

 
女王蜂 (Ziyoou-vachi) in all of their songs, tbh (Vocalist: Avu-chan)
Avu-chan tends to switch abruptly between a gruff "male" voice and squeaky "female" voice, just adding another layer of weirdness on this major-label noisy ass punk group.

 
戸川純 (Jun Togawa) in "パンク蛹化の女"
Jun Togawa was always nuts, but I think this "punk" version of her hit song "mushi no onna" illustrates in the most obvious way just how "out there" here anti-idol act was.  Listen to her scream her heart out passionately over a delightfully cheerful synth version of Pachelbel's Canon!

己龍 (Kiryu) in most songs (Vocalist: Mahiro)
I think Mahiro has to be one of the most consistently "extreme" vocalists in VK.  He's frantic, sounds like he's on the verge of crying, he moans, cackles, and growls like a demon.  Love him!



神聖かまってちゃん (shinsei kamattechan) in most songs (Vocalist: Noko)
Similar to Jun Togawa, there's a raw, yet childish energy to Noko's vocals.  HOWEVER, Noko is actually a guy.  He pitch shifts and adds other effects to achieve this scary sound.  Just imagine a grown man saying "fuck you" in pitch shifted baby vocals...


 
The Bad
己龍 (Kiryu) in "鬼祭" (Vocalist: Mahiro)
As much as I love Mahiro's craziness, I do think he went overboard on one song.  In 鬼祭, he does inhale-y growls through the song's entire chorus.  It's just off-putting and doesn't really work.



Going for falsetto notes that you can't hit
There are plenty of examples for this, but I'll focus on Shaura of the band VII-Sense.  Just watch this clip (hopefully it starts at the right time) and see if you can listen to the entire vocal outro without cringing.  The sad thing is I liked his voice in all his previous bands!  I don't know what happened...



The Raid. in "JUDGEMENT" (Vocalist: sena) 
The Raid. have come to embody what I dislike about 80% of current VK, so apologies for the bias.  (All the more disappointing, because I really enjoyed the preview for their first single.)  ANYWAY, just watch the video.  From their weak-ass "airy" growls to the absolutely goofy falsetto in the chorus, nothing meshes.  I just have a very confused look on my face when I see this video.





Discuss!  Post your own examples (youtube videos in "spoilers," please!)

Day 1 - 和楽器バンド - ボカロ三昧 (Wagakki Band - Vocalo Zanmai)

Release Date: 2014-04-23
Label: Avex
Genre: Rock/Folk/Visual Kei/Female Fronted
Impressions from :

Impressions from @Zeus:

Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | yesasia

Tanbi/ROSE KEI!

And I'm with Sakura Seven: art kei, because Moran, et al.

^Sometimes, I imagine Takemasa (Kiryu) has THIS under his perma-facecloth, rather than a big chin.

Your art is cool!!!

^Sometimes, I imagine Takemasa (Kiryu) has THIS under his perma-facecloth, rather than a big chin.

Your art is cool!!!

Found old stuff...
2008? or 2009. Ex-friend said I was like a 'cool vkei guy in furs', hhah...

I love Trombe's "off-topic" threads

For realz tho: this album was more or less as Zess described it. I liked the songs on it, but nothing really jumped out at me as being remarkably good nor bad. The strongest songs on there were actually from their singles, with "Hakaana" still being one of the top songs of the year for me, but the newer material didn't pack that punch I really wanted to hear from them.
 
I don't really care if they sound "same-y," since I feel like that's an easy-out to say you don't like something, but the formula that's been working for them thus far seemed to fall a bit short here. With that being said, a lot of their new songs are beautifully composed in a much more mature fashion than I would have expected from such a new band. Take the first track, as an example: "暁." Whenever it comes up on iTunes when I'm not paying attention, I'm always surprised to hear that it's Arlequin. This particular song, as well as a few other songs throughout their discog (such as "Blind Bud," for example), show that these guys have the chops, it's just that sometimes they struggle in the execution.
 
Could this be a fault of their producer? Or could it be that their lack of a strong producer prevents them from really honing in on what they could truly excel at.
 
The only song I didn't really care for, that stuck out, was "Missing." It is one of their heavier numbers and it was undoubtably a Lynch. worship entry (considering they took a part of "Adore," I believe) and used -THE SAME- dub-step break down that like everyone else has done already. Call me crazy for reaching this far, but the rhythm of the said breakdown also sounds like a monophonic rendition of the main riff in Sleigh Bell's "Infinity Guitars?" Still patiently awaiting the advent of lo-fi pep rally-kei.
 
All in all, I'm hoping Near Equal will be a grower for me. There's nothing particularly bad here, but I just wish the stand out tracks weren't ones I already heard. This will not be a contender for "album of the year" for me as of right now, but it could win "Most Satisfactory?" for me? 

When you need just a few extra sassy reaction GIFs to add to your collection, I've got you covered.

Dead:



Nope:



When you don't want someone else's opinion:



Do want:



Judgmental looks / side eye:



Fangirling / internet thirst:



Ready to ragequit the forum:

When you need just a few extra sassy reaction GIFs to add to your collection, I've got you covered.

Dead:



Nope:



When you don't want someone else's opinion:



Do want:



Judgmental looks / side eye:



Fangirling / internet thirst:



Ready to ragequit the forum:

When you need just a few extra sassy reaction GIFs to add to your collection, I've got you covered.

Dead:



Nope:



When you don't want someone else's opinion:



Do want:



Judgmental looks / side eye:



Fangirling / internet thirst:



Ready to ragequit the forum:

When you need just a few extra sassy reaction GIFs to add to your collection, I've got you covered.

Dead:



Nope:



When you don't want someone else's opinion:



Do want:



Judgmental looks / side eye:



Fangirling / internet thirst:



Ready to ragequit the forum:

I will return with my own, I shall have no disrespect.
 
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE GIF MASTER ON THIS BOARD AND I AM PREPARED TO FIGHT FOR MY TITLE.

When you need just a few extra sassy reaction GIFs to add to your collection, I've got you covered.

Dead:



Nope:



When you don't want someone else's opinion:



Do want:



Judgmental looks / side eye:



Fangirling / internet thirst:



Ready to ragequit the forum: